Cheese & Spinach Souffles

This post was supposed to have been about my experimentation with the reverse searing of steaks.  On the positive side, the steaks turned out rather well.  On the negative side, the pictures did not.  So instead of talking about the meat, I will talk about what really stole the show: Zoë's Cheese & Spinach Souffles.  For a woman that wasn't overly excited about cooking 10 years ago, she is a baking queen now.  I love these things.  One word of note, everything in this recipe is weighed out in the all loving metric system.  As Zoë would say, it's the English way of doing things.

Cheese & Spinach Souffles

Adapted from the 2005 Dairy Diary

                                                 Baby Spinach Leaves (225g bag)
Butter (25 g)
White Breadcrumbs (15g)
Plain Flour (25g)
Milk (150 ml)
Eggs 5 large, separated (I suppose counting is the same in either system)
Mature Cheddar Cheese, grated (150 g) Zoë used Stilton & Double Gloucester

 

1.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.  Put spinach into a saucepan, cover and cook over medium heat until just wilted.  Pour into a colander, rinse briefly under cold water, than squeeze the spinach well and roughly chop it.

2.  Butter six 9 oz ramekins and coat with breadcrumbs.

3.  In a large saucepan, melt butter, stir in flour and add milk.  Bring to a boil, stirring until thick.  One at a time, beat in egg yolks and season well.  Mix cheese and spinach into sauce.

4.  In grease-free bowl, whisk egg whites until stiff, but not dry, and fold into sauce.  Pour into prepared ramekins.

5.  Bake souffles for 12-15 minutes, until well-risen, golden brown and softly firm when pressed gently in center.  Serve immediately.